Man in Overalls

Hey Everybody! Really busy this week, getting beds ready and planting for the fall. Lots to do in the greenhouse as well. We sent some plants into town with Kelly Des Maris, to the new garden at Kate Sullivan Elementary School.  They are off to a rousing start, even have a website . If you want to get a garden going at your child's school I am sure they will be happy to hook you up with the resources they have used. I had the pleasure of sharing information about the Red Hills Small Farm Alliance this week with the Tallahassee Food Network . I shared with them the mission of the Small Farm Alliance and did a little show and tell about our Online Market . If you want to connect with other groups and people working to support the Tallahassee and regional food systems this is the crucible. There is a group working to make a celebration for National Food Day in October, a group working to coordinate and connect our community gardens ; a group working on a plan for educational ...

Some days we get to live the life we imagined. Yesterday, I had the privilege of presenting on Community Gardening at the Second Harvest of the Big Bend Annual Agency Conference.  Of the 150 or so agency partners (largely food pantry coordinators and volunteers), 35 folks attended my workshop.  For starters, to demonstrate the inseparable link in my world-view between gardening and food security, I shared stories about my 93-year-old grandmother who shaped my childhood with stories of surviving the Great Depression via her family's garden, milk cow, and chickens. Next, we walked through Food Gardening Basics like sunlight, water, garden bed preparation, how deep to plant seeds, etc. Then, after a quick overview of the three major types of community gardens ( Allotment  or Subscription, Educational, Donation), we brainstormed, "What Does it Take to Start a Community Garden?" which brought to light the need for people, commitment, communication skills, and...

In spite of the heat, folks are eager to get planting.  Below are a couple raised beds we built for folks aiming to plant their own gardens. (2) 4x4 raised beds installed in pre-existing mulched bed. FYI: It's not too late to throw in some last minute summer veggies like green beans, basil, okra, peppers, maybe some cucumbers, (if you've got lots of sun) sweet potatoes, and you just might be able to squeeze in a second season of plum or cheery tomatoes.  "r" shaped bed, custom built to fit the contour of the deck and Roberta's distaste for "too many straight lines." Then again, Fall planting is just around the corner: cooking greens (chard, kale, cabbage, collards), salad greens (lettuce, spinach, arugula), roots (other than potatoes: carrots, turnips, rutabagas, radishes), the onion/garlic family (including chives, shallots, scallions), and the cool-weather-preferring herbs (parsley, cilantro, dill, fennel).  September, October, Novemb...

Saturday morning, the Southwood Community Garden Leadership Team joined hands for its first mini-workday of the installation.  In addition to measuring and marking the perimeter with stakes & strings, the team spray painted the future outline of the first 20 (of approx. 50) 4x8 raised bed plots. Amidst the other work, I conducted a mini lady's workshop on power tools and raised bed construction in order to facilitate the construction of the garden's first raised bed frame.  We also took at look at and talked through the ingredients of my "magic compost mix" with which we will fill all 50+ beds. For the past ten months, I've been working with the Southwood Community Garden Leadership Team to facilitate their garden development .  The project has mean a constant blend of community organizing, food-garden recommendations and education, communication and group coordination, leadership development, guidance through legal loops & hoops, and linkages to Tal...

Over the July 4th holiday, I made it to Asheville to visit a friend from college .  While in town, I snuck by Grace Covenant Presbyterian Church where I used to serve as a youth adviser.  Rumor had it, they'd started an amazing garden smack-dab in the middle of their front lawn.  Rumor was true. They have ten 5ft beds that reach 60 to 100ft.  In other words, they've got a 4000sq.ft. food garden in their front yard. They're right along Merimon Ave, a major thoroughfare in Asheville.  (Notice the golden arches.) The rumor also mentioned a team of volunteers who maintain the garden, who grow the food to give it away.  According to the grapevine, they grew and gave away 500 pound of broccoli last year.  The story was confirmed by their website .  And from the looks of it, they've got more broccoli on the way. While we're exploring what's going on in Asheville, I'll go ahead and point you in the direction of the Apalachian Sustainable Agric...

So lets say that by this time, your tomatoes have succumbed to the early season blight.  Or, perhaps you left a portion of your garden un-planted this spring.  However it came to be: there's an empty spot--or entire bed-- in your food garden.  You want to grow something that will produce but not something that's going to interfere with your fall garden in September/October.  Below is a quick 5-step guide on how to chose a few varieties for replanting. (Just so you know, I'm assuming for the entirety of this post that your garden space gets at least 4-5 to 8 to 12 hours of sun.  Some afternoon shade is definitely okay.  4pm to 6:30pm are tough in July and August, even for the heat tolerant crops.) 1)First off, you need to measure your empty spot.  Is it 1ft x 5ft, i.e., 5 square feet?  Or 4'x10', i.e. 40 square feet?  With a sense of your space in mind... 2)You need to get a sense of what grows this time of year and how much space it r...

This past weekend, I made it down to Apalachicola.  My true destination was the beach, but I'm a community garden junkie.  What can I say?  Sunday afternoon Mary Elizabeth and I swung by their  City Square Community Garden.  It's gorgeous.  Take a look.  (PS, this amazing lady offered us cucumbers and zucchini from her plot.)  Kudos to Apalachicola.